


Five People Who Realized That (spoiler) Was Loki, and One Who Didn't.

by Selenae



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: 5+1, Infinity Gems, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Spoilers for Thor: TDW, lesser spoilers for Avengers and GotG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 10:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3847459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenae/pseuds/Selenae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki schemes to keep the Infinity Stones out of Thanos' hands. Along the way, certain people recognize him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five People Who Realized That (spoiler) Was Loki, and One Who Didn't.

Five people who realized that Odin was actually Loki, and one who didn't.

  


#### 1\. Heimdall

There is no fooling the all-seeing guardian. When Loki seizes the throne, Heimdall expects his brief imprisonment to be converted to an execution for treason. Instead, Loki comes to speak to him as soon as the real Odin is securely tucked away.

"You once chose me over Odin when he failed to protect Asgard. Can you follow me a little longer? Asgard will need a Guardian as much as it needs a King."

And then Loki explains about the Infinity Stones and the mad titan Thanos' quest to seize them all.  
The Odin of days past would have wielded the Stones himself to destroy Thanos. The aged, grief-stricken Odin could not even hold on to one. The safety of perhaps all life in the galaxy is at risk, and Heimdall realizes with regret that Odin will do nothing. 

Let Odin sleep and dream of Frigga. It is time for Asgard to have a new king.

  


#### 2\. Sif

Loki knows it is a risk, assigning so many tasks of one plot to the same person. But there are precious few people whom he trusts. Sif is sent to deliver the Aether to one who will protect it; Sif is sent to make alliance with SHIELD; Sif is sent to chase rumors of the Time stone.

Sif is sent to a lot of places, and she sees the shape of what is happening, and she chats with Heimdall on her way through the bifrost.

But she also sees the changes to Asgard each time she returns. The king takes a new interest in domestic matters he had let slide for centuries. He encourages new relationships between Asgard and the other realms. He listens to the common people - including women - more than to his old favorites. Asgard has always been strong, but now it grows resilient. 

By the time Sif recognizes Loki's hand at work, she remembers how she always thought he would be a good king.

  


#### 3\. Gamora

When Quill named their group the “guardians of the galaxy”, he meant it in the sense that they had saved one planet that one time, not that they were at all appropriate people to call on for future galaxy-saving. So the summons to Asgard is a surprise. 

Even more surprising is the way King Odin flinches when he sees Gamora. 

Odin questions them about the purple stone. Quill evades but Gamora is relieved to pass off the responsibility for galaxy-saving to someone with an army.

Then Odin asks whether they know what happened to a red stone in the explosion at Knowhere, whether they have ever heard reference to an orange stone of similar power.  
Gamora asks in return about the scepter that Loki stole when he betrayed Thanos. As far as she had ascertained while working for Thanos, that stone had disappeared into the human bureaucracy before Thor realized what he had left behind.

"I left it on Earth deliberately, " says Odin."To gather the stones in one place would be to invite an attack. I separated them so that Thanos can only take one without alerting the holders of the other four.”

Other _four_. He somehow knows that the green gem is already in Thanos' possession.  
_I_ left it.  
The flinch. He once feared Gamora.

This is no passive king waiting on his throne for news. This is the same trickster whose spirit Thanos broke with the Soul gem.

  


#### 4\. Darcy Lewis

It is literally one day after Agent iPod-thief turned out to be not dead, and 6 hours after Director Fury also turned out to be not dead (though Darcy hadn't known him to mourn him, so whatever). 

Therefore when the bifrost swirls open in the backyard of Avengers Mansion, Darcy just knows it'll be a not-dead Loki.

The old man costume doesn’t fool her for a second. This dude doesn't move like an old man. He respects Jane's scientific expertise the way Odin definitely didn’t. And he is totally flirting with Tony Stark. In conclusion: he's Loki.

  


#### 5\. JARVIS

Since the battle of New York, Tony has been working on installing magic-sensors in Avengers Tower. It’s no surprise that the king of the gods is overflowing with magic, but it’s a little surprising that his magic looks exactly like Loki’s.

Tony mentions this to Thor, who laughs at Midgard’s primitive magic detection. Whenever Thor is condescending towards Stark tech, Tony gets torn between offense (Stark tech is the _absolute cutting edge_ ) and interrogation (but _how_ does Asgardian tech do that?)

Apparently security cameras are one of the things too primitive for Asgard to bother with. Or else they aren’t paranoid enough to put them in guest rooms. JARVIS detects a spike of magic in Odin’s location, and finds that it corresponds to the dropping of a glamour.

The Avengers confront 'Odin'. Natasha and Bruce want to arrest him. Thor and Steve want to trust him. Tony is too busy gloating to pick a side. And finally Clint, who has been under the influence of an Infinity Stone, points out that stopping Thanos needs to be the #1 priority no matter who that means they ally with.

  


#### +1. Thanos

The heroes of four planets, armed with five Infinity Stones and several useful bits of Taneleer Tivan's Collection, land upon Thanos' little rock. The Titan is ready for them. He has ice weapons to defeat the Muspeli; mistletoe to defeat the Aesir; magic to defeat the humans and Novans.

Odin looks upon the array and smirks. Then he walks straight through them all.


End file.
